eMusic tops 300k users, now 2nd to iTunes

eMusic announced today that its subscriber base has now topped 300,000 users. This makes it the second largest online music service after iTunes according to this Sys-Con report. The eMusic catalog contains 2.5 million tracks from over 13,000 labels which are distributed in MP3 format without DRM. eMusic specializes in independent labels, providing many artists and tracks not available on iTunes.

eMusic uses a subscription model that allows you to download a fixed number of tracks each month, starting at $9.99 per month. This is different from, say, the Zune Marketplace model that allows you to rent unlimited tracks for $15/month. You own all the eMusic tracks you download and they do not stop working after your subscription expires. If you can swing the money each month, the eMusic selections nicely complement the iTunes catalog.